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Samantha Hayes and Lance Bandley ReportingIt was bad enough their house burned down, now the homeowners have something else to deal with and they say it’s like salt in an already open wound.
When something terrible like this happens, we've all seen how wonderful people in the community can be, coming together to lend a hand to help in any way they can. But others watch and do not have the homeowners’ best interest in mind at all.
When this house went up in flames, it was impossible to turn away. But not everyone watching wanted to help. There are those who watched and waited for the right time to help themselves.
Robin Snyder, Salt Lake City Police: “Sometime when a house is burned down or abandoned, it tends to attract people to it."
And people were attracted to this one, too. This time they were caught. A family member was driving by and noticed flashlights in the basement of the burned out home.
Robin Snyder: “We called inside and said, ‘This is canine. Come in or we'll send the dogs out, is how we do it.’ And they surrendered. Both of them came out."
Police arrested Rodney Liti and Carrie Galloway for trespassing. Liti was also charged with burglary for taking items from the house.
Bill Harned watched as the number of cars driving down the street seemed to multiply days after the fire.
Bill Harned: “A whole lot of traffic.”
The same thing happens in other neighborhoods after a fire, according to Jeff Leavitt, who works in refurbishing.
Jeff Leavitt, Restoration contractor: “It’s empty, dark, the neighbors are not going to stay up all night to see what’s going on.”
Other neighbors are even more enraged and say the attention the fire brought to their street makes them feel uncomfortable, even unsafe in their own homes.
Robin Snyder: “Sometimes it’s hard to keep them out.”
Bill Harned: “Looking to see what happened, or maybe those people are out there looking to do something else.”
Homeowners plan to tear the house down, but say police told them to expect this sort of thing to happen until then. The cause of the fire is officially undetermined.
